The present invention relates to milk products and particularly to preparation of milk products wherein whey is substituted for a portion of milk employed to prepare the products.
The use of whey is known in the manufacture of milk products. The advantage of using whey as a milk substitute is essentially connected with its low cost. However, the use of whey as a replacement for milk is a difficult operation. It is, in point of fact difficult to ensure that the product has thermal stability and good storage life with whey proteins.
European Patent Application Publication No. 0 627 169 concerns a process for processing milk which enables these fixed objectives to be partially achieved. Within the context of this patent application, the product to be processed may be in the form of whole milk, partially skimmed milk, skimmed milk or whey. Processing is carried out by the technique of evaporation. However, there are some disadvantages that this method does have:
Firstly, it is not suitable for obtaining milk reconstituted from milk powder. Consequently, the milk must be processed as near as possible to the milk producer and the consumer in order to reduce transport costs. PA1 Secondly, this processing procedure does not enable sedimentation to be prevented after processing, in particular when the product is sterilized.